The present invention relates to an electric candle with a moving flame element that visually simulates the flickering movements of a burning flame of a wax candle.
Electric candles are known, such as from U.S. Pat. No. 9,541,247 that describes an electric candle with a flame element being illuminated by a light source, and a drive mechanism that causes the flame element to move and thereby simulate a real burning flame. This and other patent documents describe flame elements with different shapes, different ways of suspending the flame element in relation to the housing and different drive mechanism, wherein the specific embodiments provide simulated flames that has different degrees of realism when compared to a burning flame.
The known electric candles are designed in a manner wherein especially the suspension of the flame element is complex, which means that assembly procedure of such candles are difficult and requires a huge number of steps, that the flame element may unintentionally be displaced from its intended position such as if the candle is turned upside down during transportation, and also that the candles have a high power consumption.
The flickering of a burning flame is the constant changes of the shape and orientation of the flame in a disordered and random manner, and is primarily caused by the constant movement of the bulk air surrounding the flame. A candle with a burning flame is often perceived as cozy, i.e., it provides a desired cozy atmosphere. Most of the parameters that cause the random and flickering movements of a burning flame does not influence the simulated flame of an electric candle. As an example, the natural movement of the surrounding bulk air does not affect the emitted light beam of an electric candle, and only causes the flame element (typically made of plastic) to move in an almost non-notable extent.
The extent of realism of an electric candle is primarily determined by the human perception of the movements of the flame element and the light emitted onto the flame element, which means that it is subjective whether one type of electric candle is perceived as more realistic than another type. However, an electric candle with a flame element that moves in a disordered and random manner is often perceived as having a higher extent of realism than a candle wherein the flame element that moves in an ordered manner.
It is therefore a main aspect of the present invention to provide an electric candle which will be perceived as more realistic than conventional electric candles.